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marygriggs at 11:05am on 05/12/2010 under nola
marygriggs at 11:05am on 05/12/2010 under nolahttp://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2010/12/orleanians_have_a_message_for.html
Orleanians have a message for gay young people in distress: It gets better
Published: Saturday, December 04, 2010, 9:38 PM
Katie Urbaszewski, The Times-Picayune
The people who gathered Saturday at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center in Faubourg Marigny had a message for gay and lesbian teenagers, in New Orleans or anywhere else, who don't feel accepted in their communities: Their lives will get better.
It's a message they will communicate through videos to be posted on Facebook and YouTube.
The original "It Gets Better" YouTube videos, created in response to the well-publicized suicides of some gay young people who felt bullied and hopeless, grew in popularity from word of mouth.
In the same way, the "It Gets Better -- NOLA" event Saturday night was organized when a couple of co-workers not involved in any gay-rights organizations decided to get the city's gay-rights groups together for one large awareness event.
Austin Lavin and Megan Hargroder organized a similar event almost overnight in October at the bar Cure, drawing 150 people who made 37 videos, Lavin said. LGBT rights groups approached them afterward and said they should plan a second, bigger event.
Representatives from the Human Rights Campaign in New Orleans said it was the first time in a long time so many human rights organizations in the city had come together for one event. The NO/AIDS Task Force, Forum for Equality, Human Rights Campaign, Touro Synagogue LGBTQ Group and PFLAG New Orleans all provided food, volunteers, space and camera equipment.
Derwin Wilright Jr., a student at the University of New Orleans and president of the college's Amnesty International organization, came by to make a video.
"If you think about how these bullies will only be in your life for a few months or a couple of years, then you'll really see how insignificant those people are in your life," Wilright said into the camera as he sat on a couch surrounded by professional lighting and two cameras. He encouraged anyone who can't find support within their families or friends to seek help from their school counseling center or the Trevor Project, a suicide-prevention LGBT organization.
"'It Gets Better' is so simple ... but it does so much," Wilright said afterward. "Now that this movement is so focused, anyone can find at least one video they can relate to."
Advice columnist Dan Savage and his partner Terry Miller posted a video on YouTube in September encouraging young people facing harassment to believe that "it gets better." More than 5,000 people, including celebrities and politicians, followed suit with their own videos and a similar message.
Many people at the community center said they felt they were speaking mainly to people living in cities less tolerant than New Orleans.
"There's always a need for encouragement and education wherever you are," Lavin said. "But we realize that not everybody has the opportunity to live in New Orleans, and we want to be there and give encouragement to people in other parts of the world too."
Wilright said he felt he was speaking to "any gay youth on the brink of suicide, or being bullied or who feels like they're hell-bound" when he made his video.
"I've read that New Orleans is the second most gay-friendly city in America, but I don't exactly believe that," he said. "We don't have the right to get married here. So we still have to have this conversation."
Katie Urbaszewski can be reached at kurbaszewski@timespicayune.com.
Orleanians have a message for gay young people in distress: It gets better
Published: Saturday, December 04, 2010, 9:38 PM
Katie Urbaszewski, The Times-Picayune
The people who gathered Saturday at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center in Faubourg Marigny had a message for gay and lesbian teenagers, in New Orleans or anywhere else, who don't feel accepted in their communities: Their lives will get better.
It's a message they will communicate through videos to be posted on Facebook and YouTube.
The original "It Gets Better" YouTube videos, created in response to the well-publicized suicides of some gay young people who felt bullied and hopeless, grew in popularity from word of mouth.
In the same way, the "It Gets Better -- NOLA" event Saturday night was organized when a couple of co-workers not involved in any gay-rights organizations decided to get the city's gay-rights groups together for one large awareness event.
Austin Lavin and Megan Hargroder organized a similar event almost overnight in October at the bar Cure, drawing 150 people who made 37 videos, Lavin said. LGBT rights groups approached them afterward and said they should plan a second, bigger event.
Representatives from the Human Rights Campaign in New Orleans said it was the first time in a long time so many human rights organizations in the city had come together for one event. The NO/AIDS Task Force, Forum for Equality, Human Rights Campaign, Touro Synagogue LGBTQ Group and PFLAG New Orleans all provided food, volunteers, space and camera equipment.
Derwin Wilright Jr., a student at the University of New Orleans and president of the college's Amnesty International organization, came by to make a video.
"If you think about how these bullies will only be in your life for a few months or a couple of years, then you'll really see how insignificant those people are in your life," Wilright said into the camera as he sat on a couch surrounded by professional lighting and two cameras. He encouraged anyone who can't find support within their families or friends to seek help from their school counseling center or the Trevor Project, a suicide-prevention LGBT organization.
"'It Gets Better' is so simple ... but it does so much," Wilright said afterward. "Now that this movement is so focused, anyone can find at least one video they can relate to."
Advice columnist Dan Savage and his partner Terry Miller posted a video on YouTube in September encouraging young people facing harassment to believe that "it gets better." More than 5,000 people, including celebrities and politicians, followed suit with their own videos and a similar message.
Many people at the community center said they felt they were speaking mainly to people living in cities less tolerant than New Orleans.
"There's always a need for encouragement and education wherever you are," Lavin said. "But we realize that not everybody has the opportunity to live in New Orleans, and we want to be there and give encouragement to people in other parts of the world too."
Wilright said he felt he was speaking to "any gay youth on the brink of suicide, or being bullied or who feels like they're hell-bound" when he made his video.
"I've read that New Orleans is the second most gay-friendly city in America, but I don't exactly believe that," he said. "We don't have the right to get married here. So we still have to have this conversation."
Katie Urbaszewski can be reached at kurbaszewski@timespicayune.com.
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